Friday, April 19, 2002

Officials Are Told to Keep Detainee Information Secret
Two weeks ago, a judge in Federal District Court here sided with the newspapers and rejected government arguments that opening the hearings would pose a security risk. Last week, the Justice Department asked the appeals court for a stay while it considered the case. It received a temporary stay. Today, the appeals court rejected a longer stay. That would have let the government withhold Mr. Haddad's immigration file while the appeals court considers the case.

The decision today will require the government to allow the press access to an immigration hearing scheduled for Mr. Haddad on Tuesday, unless it can get a postponement or the stay from the Supreme Court.

The government continues to argue that open hearings would compromise investigations of terrorist threats. The appeals court said First Amendment rights took precedence.

"We recognize that the government alleges substantial injuries to the integrity of its terrorism-related investigation," the decision said, "but the likelihood of such harms occurring in this particular case is remote, given the fact that information about Haddad's detention has already been disseminated."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19HEAR.html?todaysheadlines&pagewanted=all

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